Message below from our friends in Fitchburg. If you bike Fish Hatchery Row over the Beltline, you will want to read it.
Robbie Webber Bike Walk Madison Steering Committee www.bikewalkmadison.org Join our group on Facebook! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Steve Arnold <[email protected]> Date: Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 10:59 AM Subject: [Fitchburg Biking] Danger on Fish Hatchery Road at the Beltline To: [email protected] Cc: Jeff Gust WisDOT Project Development Supervisor 246-3884 <[email protected]>, Fitchburg Transportation and Transit Commission <[email protected]> If you use the Fish Hatchery Road (FHR) overpass over the Beltline, please be aware that construction has started on the rearrangement of ramps (more at http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/beltlineimprovements/index.htm), and a dangerous situation has developed. The transit/bike lane between the northbound FHR-eastbound Beltline ramp and the eastbound Beltline-northbound FHR ramp is completely blocked by concrete "Jersey barriers" to protect construction workers. The location is shown here: http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?hl=en&q=post+road,+fitchburg+wi&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=oh6MSobEFIPANcGX3cUP&ll=43.033372,-89.409603&spn=0.001451,0.010868&z=17&layer=c&cbll=43.032868,-89.407933&panoid=YHhjJS1q91zU_2wU74oZow&cbp=11,43.74,,0,5 After crossing the NB to EB ramp, cyclists using the road need to move to the center lane to bypass this structure. The safest way to negotiate this narrow point may be to aggressively take the entire lane, and make motorists wait for you. Signal and make eye contact before moving into the center lane. Changing your route to avoid this problem area may not be feasible, as the next Beltline crossing to the west is Seminole Highway, and the next crossing to the east is the Badger Road bike-ped overpass east of US Highway 14. I discussed this situation with Jeff Gust, of the DOT (Cc'd). The only thing we thought of so far to mitigate the situation is some warning signage, like "Bikes use center lane" and "Share the road". I hope he will let me know if anything is done. I'll pass any news along to this list. Be careful out there! Regards, Steve Arnold, Fitchburg Alder, District 4, Seat 7 2530 Targhee Street, Fitchburg, Wisconsin 53711-5491 Telephone +1 608 278 7700 · Facsimile +1 608 278 7701 [email protected] · http://www.Arnold.US _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
